Helicopter,



H. H. GMDLBY.

HELICOPTER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.16, 1910.

Patented Dec, 26, 191 I.

3 SHEETSSHEBT 1.`

WITNESSES.-

H, H; G-RDLEY.

ED NGV. 1G, 1910` 3SHBBTS-SHEBT Z.

@Een

APPLICATION IIL VTIVSSES:

FI. GRIDLBY.

EELIGOPTEB. APPLICATIM FILED NOV. 16, 1910.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

` I Be it' known that I, HENRY H. GmDLEY,

` specification. 4 4 `.-.-'l`-l)is.invention relates to improvements' inableserewpropellers and 'are provided withgendedtulnilarV members; thelower part ofy r 'A ward 4dge upturne., as indicated at b, and the rear5.0

'"downturne'd portions .b and c is to cause adapted to revolve in`4avertical plane a'e Brsr VAILABLE-,COPY

l Uniirnn srArn's 4ra i onirica 'irENnY H. GMDLEY, or Herzens, ma'sncrmsn'rrs.

' HELICOPTER.

a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Holyoke, in thecounty of Hampdenand State of Massachusetts, have in vented new anduseful Improvements in Helicopters, of which the following is .ai

lie icopters, orwhicharc commonly known as flying machines. The machinesof this class are designed to bedriven through the air by means 'ofsuitsuitable means, comprising suitable ,propeller or lifting blades,for lmaintaining them in the air. 4

Broadly considered my invention consists in providing @supporting planeor aerofoil 'memberhaving openings therethrough, and placing above thisplane member and in orover the opening a suitablenumber of open.

the tubular members having propellers or lifters located therein which,preferably, re- `volvein a horizontal plane whereby a lifting eliec't isproduced to maintain the machine in the air. Suitablc'propellers ortractors also employed to drive the machine forwart 'Referring to thedrawingsl forming part of this application, 4`igure l is a longitudinal,vertical, sectional view on the linerl1, of Fig. 2,cleasslri-liustrating the shapeand position ofthe supportingplanegith'eee'n" 'structien-.anrdlocation of .the tubular members With-.thelifting propellers located therein, jand the vertically arranged drivingpropel# 1ers. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine. This View beingconsidered as looking down*J on F` 3 and *illustrating the positions of.the tu ular members." Fig. 3 is an end'elevation lookin fromtheri'glr'ihand end of Fig. l andgclearly' showing the ribs at the edgeofthe supporting plane.

Referring #to thel drawings in detail, a designatesthe supporting plane,the forof. which is preferably slightly part is 'preferably downtnrned'as 'shown at c. The purpose of these upturned and the machine to'assistin lifting itself when 'bein '1 dri'yen through the -air. fOr, in other'Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Utes. 245, 1911.

AppIicatio'n filed November 16, 1916. Sera! No. 532,577.

the resistance of thepa-ssage of the supporting plaire; similarly theportion d in its forforces downwardu the mass of air, Coming in c ontactwith it and so receiving the upward lift of the reactionof said mass ofair lessens i Ward-motion pushes down Still farther the mass of airacted upon by the portion 5b and receives a like uplifting force. Thecurved construct-ion of the portions b and c also helps to 4stiftentheplane a. laterally between the rims d. The extent and degree ofcurvature' of vthis part of the plane is merel illuS-. trativ'e as thesaine may be. varied as sire-d.

designates vertically arranged side rims. that are secured to oppositeedges of the plane a. These rims permit trussedconstruction inthemselves to stiften the plane a longitudinally, oil-"from front .torear.l The portions ofthe 'rims d that are below the pla-ne a serve toprevent the lateral escape lof the denser air belovv the plane a,and-Will', have a very considerable.giarachute ifect when the plane a isgliding downwa-r and the propellers are not running.

It will be observed that the lentire con! struction avoids the downwardpressure of maintain aA i l rings al in the plane a and are ncstedftmgether, as shown, and necessarily, of differ" `ent diameters. The memberhas its lewer edge inengagement with the upper surface' of the plane.aand its nii-per edge y' above the lower edges lc and -m-of the membersf and g.

It will be observed that the diameter of. the'niember eis intermedia-tethat of the and p' are .provided en each sideof the np-y per portion jof the member c. V y Located above the upper edge-j of the member e andxtendinfr from the members f and y is an annular ri-.ate cr diaphragm 91 preferably provided with a cui iai-f. This plateg semfes-the purposesf de -ecting the currents of air as they are 'draw n throughA .ioo ythe annular spaces aand @downward by the y propellers s which arelocated inthe lower part of the tabular member e and ,over the openingsal "when the'same are rotated, as

wor?. th curved f glides' upon,. and

-shown'by the arrows it.' The curved part rof the plate g is to give asmooth and easy flow to the air currents, thereby lessening theirfriction and increasing their. velocity.

These currents' of air, during their passage, will Astrike against' theunder side of the late g and its curved part 1" causing or efecting alifting effecton the machine. It should beparticularly noticed thatthese currents of air will cause a rarefaction or lessening of thedensity of the air pressure above the plane a with the result' that theatmospheric pressure above the supporting plane is very much lessened.The air pressure be- '.the tubes g and z'. The currents represented bythe arrow 'w wouldcause a rarefaction of the atmospheric pressure on theupper side of the plate g, and as they pass overthe upper edge m of. thetube g they would strike the under side of the plate y and its curvedpart e.

The arrowN-l illustrates the path of the current of air above the platey and downward through theI tubes z', g, and e. The

I 'currentsof air drawn downward through tiO the tubular member z' donot exert its' momentum on a plate member as do thecurrents passingthrough the members e and g,

and therefore exert less lifting power, but itwill be readily seen thatthe tubular member 'z' might ,have a, tight cover, and the spacesbetween the-edges o f memberse and g, and plates g and i be soproportioned as to pass all the air that the propeller s could drivethrough the opening al in the plane a. .The propellers s, it will beobserved, are located above the openings al in the supporting plane a sothat the various streams of air will be discharged'below this plane toassist in effecting an upward pressure below the same.

The propellers s are operated from any suitable source of motive power,as indicated at 6, .and operatively connected to this motive power bymeans of the drive-chain 7 are driving propeller blades 8 which areconnected to the shaft 9. The propellers s are operatively connected tothe shaft 5) so as to rotate in unison with the blades 8 by means ofdrive-chains 10 and 11, and the shafts -12 and 13, which are gearedtogether, as

shown at 14. The driving connections between the motive power 6 and thepropeller blades s and Sis merely illustrative.

The plan view in Fig. 2 shows four sets of nested tubular members, but Ido not limit myself to any particular number, al,-

thoughv the number should preferably be so chosen or proportioned as toalways produce a balanced effect on the plane a'.

In order to permit the escape of the air below the plane a, should anysudden wind pressure become too great, I provide wing or trap `doormembers 14 which are adapted to open upward, as shown in Fig. 1.

l5 designates the car pait of the machine which is suitably suspendedfrom the glider plane, as shown.

'lhe various elements for supporting the car, motive power, etc., formno part of the present invention and are merely lllustrative.

l. A helicopterhaving in combination with a supporting plane, aplurality of open ended tubular members, diaphragms or plates betweensaid members, propeller blades to draw air through the members to lessenthe atmospheric pressure on said plates and increase the pressure belowthe plane. l

2. A helicopter having in combination .with a supporting plane, aplurality of open ended tubular members nested together and above saidplane, the upper edge of lsome of thesaid members being above the loweredge of an adjacent member, a plate extending parallel with lsaid edges,means for drawing the air through said members and against the plate anddischarging the same below the supporting plane. 4

3. A helicopter having in combination with a supporting plane providedwith an upturned forward portion and a downturned rear portion, theplane .having openings therethrough, a series of tubular memberscommunicating with the openings, a propeller, the tubular members beingaxially and laterally spaced to permit the propellerI to effect ararefaction of the air pressure above said plane and increase it belowthe same.

4. In a helicopter, the combination with a supporting plane providedwith laterally located rims extending both above and below the saidplane,=the plane having an opening therein, a tu ular member over theopening, and a lifting propeller 'in said member. V

5. In a helicopter, a supportin plane having openings therethrough, a tuular mem` one of the tubular members, and means for operating thepropeller.

6. A helicopter having in combination with a supporting plane providedwith an opening therethrough, a series -of tubular members over theopening, the members being oil different diameters and having theirupper and lower edges or ends nested to permit currents of air to flowover one edge of one member and below or under the edge of an adjacenttubular'member, plates located adjacent said edges, a propeller over theopening, and. in the lovvermost member, and means for operating thepropeller.

7. A helicopter contprising a plane member of greater Width than itslength, ribs secured to its lateral edges thereof, the plane member, aseries of open ended tubular members of 'different diameters located onthe upper surface of the plane and over an opening 'in the plane, apropeller for drawing air through the annular spaces between the tubularmembers and delivering it to the opening in the plane, and plates 'tocausethe air ^to-glow in a curved path.

8. A helicopter comprising a supporting plane member havingan openingtherein, a lifting propeller located above the opening, a tubular membersurrounding the pro- 1 peller, and a plate arranged above the open endof the tubular member Whereby'when through the tubular member, and alifting effect exerted by the current of air on the pate, as described.

o9. The combination with the lifting pro`v peller of a Hying machine,tubular members spaced from each other and located above said propeller,a horizontally arranged plate in the space between. the members andagainst which the current of air strikes when the propeller is operated,whereby a lifting edect is produced.

l0. ln a helicopter, the combination with a supporting plane or aerofoilhaving' an npturned forward portion -and a down'j turned rear portionand provided with laterally located rimsextending both above and below'said plane, means to lift the plane, and means to propel the same asdesired.

HENRY H. GRDLEY.

VVitnesises: i

K. CLnMoNs, HARRY W. BOWEN.

